Daily toll soars to 6,178

BRITAIN recorded 6,178 cases of coronavirus yesterday – the third highest figure since the outbreak began.

The daily total jumped by a quarter overnight as experts warned the virus was “taking off again”.

Some 37 further deaths were announced across the UK, the same as the previous day’s toll.

Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, said: “6,178 new cases of Covid- 19 have been reported overnight, compared to 4,926 overnight cases yesterday. New measures have been brought in to stop the spread of the virus and it is essential you follow them.

“You should work from home if you can, wear a face covering in retail and hospitality settings, unless you are eating or drinking, and not be in a group larger than six people.

“We are testing much more than we were earlier on in the outbreak and our local health protection teams are working with local councils and directors of public health manage the increase.”

An increase in testing during the summer means it is likely cases were far higher during the peak of the epidemic, but many were not recorded in the official tally.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, explained: “We can only guess how many people were actually infected with Covid- 19 at the height of the pandemic, but it seems certain to have exceeded 100,000 per day.” to